Reviews by Davihaw:

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There's no way sixteen candles fit on the top of this beer. And its probably a rather good idea to keep the flames far away from this 11% beast. But in true birthday fashion, the taste of chocolate cake is present, along with my favorite birthday flavor- bourbon!

With an ominous creep into the glass, this highly viscous stout coats the glass like ink as it nestles into the snifter. Its black abyss sheds a short mocha-stained head that eventually collapses back into the beer under its enormous weight. A brief appearance of foam regenerates with a gentle swirl, speckling the glass with random lace.

Bold and savory aromas fill the nose with high espresso and supporting toffee. As background notes of dark chocolate, roasted nuts, toast char and cream inform the sweeter an java scents, the bourbon awakens with its own caramels, vanillans, oaken and weathered character- opening up fruit tones of sugarplums and drunken cherry.

Its decadent sweetness wraps around the tongue with bittersweet chocolate, deeply carmalized toffee, peanut brittle, brownie batter and heavy whipping cream. As the darker espresso, roasty-toasty flavors rise, the taste of chocolate covered coffee beans become apparent. But here comes the barrel- vanilla, oak, caramel and coconut give the taste a sultry and lavish taste- laced with bourbon soaked berries, pitted and dried fruit for a semi-vinous tone, similar to sherry wine.

Its boisterous texture is rich, chewy, and dense as its light carbonation allows for the full penetration of the beer's decadent sweetness to seep deeply into the taste buds. Keeping the texture velvety, its carbonation offers up a marshmallowy feel even deep as the barrel tannin, alcohol spice and vinous twang attempts to balance and lighten its taste and texture.

Central Waters sure knows how to party. And it seems that they are getting better every year. With what seems to be their apex, I can't wait to see what they have up the mash tun for next year!

A - The smooth pour generates a creamy mocha head that rests carefully on the black beer and leaves delicate fingers of lace on the glass; everything a beautiful imperial stout should be!

S - Kicked off by a healthy dose of brown sugar, this big imperial stout features a congregation of great dark malt characteristics. Molasses, milk chocolate complete with lactose sweetness, caramel, and toffee swirl around a beautiful bouquet of barrel aging; vanilla and smooth bourbon soaked oak come into play with just a hint of warming alcohol on the finish.

M - Sixteen's rich body lends itself well to sipping from a snifter at warmer temperatures as it coats the throat with smooth dark maltiness and finishes with an ever-present warming alcohol that gently thins out the finish.

O - Once again, Central Waters' anniversary imperial stout doesn't disappoint. Sixteen is rich, decadent, and full of complexity that's worth burying your nose in as full on milk chocolate, molasses, and coffee notes swirl around the beer's incredibly smooth vanilla and bourbon oak nuances. The difference between Sixteen and some of their other barrel-aged stouts is that, despite the beer's extended aging in old barrels, this release exhibits a higher concentration of alcohol heat through both the taste and feel. That said, while it's a little warmer compared to other Central Waters' releases, Sixteen still remains pretty tame by comparison to some of craft beer's other bourbon barrel-aged stouts. It's damn good fresh but this one will age magnificently.

Big thanks to DocJ007 for busting this one open for us at our last monthly tasting.

A - Pours pitch black with a nice one finger tall tan head, slowly dissipating down to a light film, leaving small webs of lace on the sides of the glass.

S - Smells of fresh baked fudge brownies, vanilla, oak, toasted coconut, dark fruits, warm bourbon and plenty of dark roasted malt. The fudge is off the charts with some bourbon offering to help keep it in check, awesome aroma.

T - Starts off much like the nose does with the strong brownie fudge that never really fades away. The vanilla, coconut and toffee offer some added flavors while the oaken bourbon and dark roasted malts round everything out. Finish is still sweet with some light dryness, lingering long after the finish.

M - Heavy body with moderate carbonation. Smooth, sweet feel from start to finish makes it very easy to consume despite how large it actually is. While the booze is present it isn't as big as I anticipated it being.

O - One of the best stouts in recent memory. The over the top fudge is balanced just enough by the remaining flavors to allow it to be both easy drinking and super flavorful. Makes me want to seek out the other anniversary beers to see how good they are. Thanks again Justin!

A black liquid with a deep cola edge, just short lived noisy finger of dark foam that leaves no lace

S hard to miss the barrel on the nose, heaps of bourbon and wood, a little smoke, caramel and vanilla, molasses, booze, more bourbon and a little chocolate, I smell a winner

T much like the nose thankfully, all barrel, charred wood, smokey bourbon, intense stuff, a little boozy but it works with the barrel intensity, a little chocolate, and vanilla in the mix but the bourbon barrel is king

M not overly thick, just enough bubbles to give it some life, tannin grit in the mouth but a little sticky on the stash, some heat on the way down, and charred barrel linger for ages

O its a big ass barrel monster and that suits me fine, intense bourbon notes at every turn, terrific stuff going on here

21 months? I'm struggling to think of a beer I've had that spent more time in a barrel, I also can't recall using the word "barrel" this many times in a review, coincidence? I think not.

Well, after drinking two or three or something of these on tap & thinking it was mind-blowing, time to pop the cap on a bottle & see if it's as good in the glassy format. I'm putting my chips on yes. 22 oz. bottle with nice minimalist bottle art split with my (non 16 chugging, until now) wife.

Pour is dead black, with as much carbonation as hard-poured chocolate milk. The smell, oh, the smell is driven. Gorgeous brownie batter, real fresh maple syrup, vanilla picked by Virginian monks...yeah. It tastes thick even to my nose.

Sixteen is as thick in the mouth as it is in the nose hairs. Huge & thick, this is a decadent, after-dinner, eat-it-with-chocolate kind of beer. Speaking of which, big chunks of chocolate & dripping marshmallow dominate the beer: s'mores! S'mores. Now I want a s'more. Sweet. Bourbon is present only as a sweet smile of vanilla; subtle, or repressed, depending on your religion. Richness in the middle is added by sugar, brown sugar, molasses. Mouthfeel is ready for the Olympics, as is the drinkability. Slugging.

If I was rating this to the category of barrel-aged stout I'd knock it because of the reticence of the bourbon, but hey, style means as much to me as being nice to strangers, so fuck that. On a simple beer level this is thick, gorgeous, & goes down like castor oil. Excellent.